Cognitive impairment is now internationally recognized as a risk factor, usually distributed in childhood, middle age, and later life.
Education may be particularly important in childhood, the lower the level of education, the higher the risk of cognitive impairment, but it is not absolute, although there may be less education in childhood, in the future, by participating in social activities, receiving other learning and education, maintaining the intake of knowledge, theoretically can also play a certain role in protecting the brain. We need to recognize that low level of education is an important risk factor for the development of cognitive impairment, and we should actively change this situation.
In middle age, it is now found that several risk factors are very closely related to cognitive impairment, such as high blood pressure, and unstable blood pressure control will increase the risk of cognitive impairment.
There are other risk factors, such as traumatic brain injury, which generally refers to chronic, such as a brain collision injury caused by long-term boxing, which is a chronic condition that may increase the risk of cognitive impairment.
It has been found that hearing loss in midlife may also be a risk factor for the development of cognitive impairment and should be actively prevented.
Of course, there is also environmental exposure, which may also increase the risk of cognitive impairment, such as environmental pollution. There is also an individual's physical condition, if obesity is particularly significant, can also increase the risk of cognitive impairment.
Although cognitive impairment is more common in the elderly, it does not mean that it occurs only in old age, in fact, there are a certain proportion of cases in the age group of 30 to 40 years, and the symptoms of these patients may be closely related to genetic factors.
In later life, the first thing is lifestyle, smoking and drinking alcohol may increase the risk of cognitive impairment; Second, if diabetes and high blood pressure are not well controlled, the risk of cognitive impairment is also very high. If you have a chronic disease, you must actively manage it and control it well.
Of course, it is also related to social life and psychological state, if an elderly person is in a state of depression for a long time, the risk of cognitive impairment will increase significantly. Not going out, not exercising, and not participating in social interactions may increase the risk of cognitive impairment.
The risk factors of cognitive impairment are hidden in every aspect of life, so we should pay attention to the bits and pieces of life to prevent the occurrence of cognitive impairment in the elderly.
Is cognitive impairment easy to detect at an early stage?
For the elderly, the first major category is degenerative changes in the nervous system, Alzheimer's disease, frontotemporal dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies, and dementia associated with Parkinson's disease are all very common dementias caused by neurodegenerative diseases.
The second category is caused by cerebrovascular diseases, such as cerebral infarction and cerebral hemorrhage, which may cause cognitive decline.
The third category is the coexistence of degenerative changes and vascular diseases, which is called mixed cognitive impairment.
In addition to this, there are many other causes, such as severe malnutrition; severe vitamin deficiencies; Encephalitis and HIV (HIV) infection can cause cognitive decline.
In addition, it is also necessary to be highly vigilant for improper use of drugs, drug interactions and drug toxicity, which may also cause cognitive impairment; Endocrine hypofunction, such as an underactive thyroid gland, can also cause cognitive dysfunction.
Vascular cognitive impairment, which appears after cerebral infarction and cerebral hemorrhage, is particularly closely related, occurs relatively quickly, and is easy to be noticed.
It is not easy to be noticed by everyone is the cognitive impairment caused by neurodegenerative diseases, the onset of this kind of disease is very insidious, and the progression time is relatively long, the early symptoms are not paid attention to, and they are ignored, but these symptoms will gradually develop until they can't take care of themselves, their temper becomes very big, and their families have no way to communicate, so they will think of bringing them to the hospital for treatment, in fact, they have missed the best opportunity for early diagnosis and early treatment. However, it is recommended that you must detect early symptoms and seek medical attention in time.
Resources:
Medical Microvision Official Website - Professor Wang Huali "Cognitive Impairment in the Elderly"
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